Northwest Fishing Reports

Happy Hump day everyone!

Just wanted to see if anyone had some ideas on locations for LARGIES on Lake Spokane. I can find about a billion smallies but I really want to find some good spots for Largies. Any help with where and ideas for this time of year baits would be awesome. Still so much to learn about bass fishing but it sure is fun!!

EB

spokanebassman wrote:Happy Hump day everyone!

Just wanted to see if anyone had some ideas on locations for LARGIES on Lake Spokane. I can find about a billion smallies but I really want to find some good spots for Largies. Any help with where and ideas for this time of year baits would be awesome. Still so much to learn about bass fishing but it sure is fun!!

EB

Buddy, you and I are in the same boat [figuratively speaking!] on this one. I'd honestly like to know of a few spots myself. This beautiful lake is next on my list of lakes I'll be scouting thoroughly.

I started fishing this lake last year. It has always produced well with SMB. I am going to spend more time learning this lake, there are so many good spots on the shore line with downed trees that it should produce alot of LMB. I will be monitoring this thread for future spots to try. I know the lilly pads will be good later on when they finally come up, the area I am talking about is up by Tum Tum.

Long is sure a nice SMB lake, but it does have some monster LMBs as well. I wish I could tell you the "x" marks the spots, but there are not nearly as many LMB in the lake, and I find that it takes a bit of searching. Try the flats, deep in the pads, look for anything different, like logs or stumps in the pad fields.

I haven't been on long in 100 years but there should still be some largemouth in Felton slough.
Sunset bay and the docks upstream on the north side. The flats down stream from tumtum, we used to call it the stickups.
There were a bunch of small dead trees along the bank.
Behind the island across from tumtum. The pad field at sportsmans paradise,locate the deep hole on the east end.
It has been my experiance that when a Smallmouth population gets astablished the largemouth decline.
In the 70s and 80s the largemouth fishing in long was fantastic with 7 and 8 pound fish showing often.
I have even seen a few 9 pounders come out of long.
Good luck and keep casting.

YellowBear wrote:I haven't been on long in 100 years but there should still be some largemouth in Felton slough.
Sunset bay and the docks upstream on the north side. The flats down stream from tumtum, we used to call it the stickups.
There were a bunch of small dead trees along the bank.
Behind the island across from tumtum. The pad field at sportsmans paradise,locate the deep hole on the east end.
It has been my experiance that when a Smallmouth population gets astablished the largemouth decline.
In the 70s and 80s the largemouth fishing in long was fantastic with 7 and 8 pound fish showing often.
I have even seen a few 9 pounders come out of long.
Good luck and keep casting.

Thank you for the advice.

My understanding of smallmouth is that they prefer a different environment from that of largemouth. It would seem to me that Long Lake offers a little bit of both for both species. I've never actually been out to Long Lake because I didn't have the boat for it, but I've heard it has a fair amount of current for a reservoir. If that's the case, then I can see why the smallmouth might dominate or be easier to find.

The stuff Yellowbear pointed out are all good LM spots on Long. All those places you were describing that you like to fish when the pads pop have fish on them now. The pads may not be there but the fish are for sure. Long is a dock fishing lake if there ever was one. Any of the bays i.e. Felton, Sportsman's, Willow, Sunup that have docks hold LM. Other bays without docks hold them as well but when you have a dock you know you have a likely place to start.

The other thing to consider is that just because you are catching SM doesn't mean thats all that lives ther. Last year I started a tournament on my favorite SM spot on that Lake and caught a 20 pound bag of LM off of it. You might have to fish it differently but anything that looks fishy probably is. The LM are on the comeback at Long. Good Luck

I am glad to hear the Largemouth are making a comeback at long.
I sure miss flippin the docks.

YellowBear wrote:I am glad to hear the Largemouth are making a comeback at long.
I sure miss flippin the docks.

Actually that is the most common way to fish long, and is therefore probably the worst way to catch the LMB here. Don't get me wrong, it works well, but it is funny to see how long a dock goes without being fished on a Saturday. I'll bet some don't go 15 minutes without a new fisherman pulling up to it.

These dock fish have seen every possible flippin offering known to man.

I agree that those docks get pounded but from my experience and what I have witnessed I wouldn't say they are the worst places to catch LM. Most guys are only picking off the fish on the edges. There just arne't that many guys that are good enough with a jig to get their baits to the backs of the docks where a lot of those fish live. I have seen some guys get pretty good at skippin senkos to the tough spots but I wouldn't say that very many are good at it. Skipping baits takes a tremendous amount of practice. Flippin baits isn't hard but the fish in the tough spots aren't typically going to move 5 or 6 feet to eat a jig that is flipped to the edge. I would also argue that based on what I see guys talk about as far as baits on this chatboard those fish probably haven't seen that many different baits. I will guaruntee you they know the senko colors by their numbers.

But don't fish them if you don't want to. I have no problem with that.

I would guess that there are a lot more guys fishing Long today than there were when I fished it, lol.
Back then you might see one or two other bass boats on the water at a time.
But I would think that even though Long has more pressure these days, the fish will still bite.
I have never tried a Senko, why? because there are so many guys using them.
I do think the fish get smart about baits.
I never had a problem hitting a dock that someone had just pulled off of.

Anglingarcher, you sound like a dock owner.